Natural Horsemanship Helps Damaged Hooves and Stiff Muscles in Your Horse

A body worker performs stretches on Jule Drown's Paso Fino broodmare, Porcelana. "I'm impressed with [the body worker's] knowledge of anatomy, physical therapy, and equine health care," says Drown.

Natural horsemanship for horses can relieve stiff muscles and aid damaged hooves. Massage and other natural horsemanship works to tone back muscles and loosen stiff shoulders in your horse.

A Bundle of Problems
When I bought Porcelana a year ago, I knew she had some problems, but I naively didn't recognize the severity of their cumulative effect or the need for immediate health-care attention. At that time, she was pregnant following the birth of two foals in two years. She'd received little exercise for years, her teeth were likely neglected, and her hooves hadn't been trimmed and shod properly.

As soon as Porcelana was mine, I had her teeth floated and started riding her lightly, although she turned out her left front leg. Three months later, I removed her shoes for good. My natural hoof trimmer was dismayed at the horrible shape my mare's hooves were in (toes way too long, heels not level), but assured me that she could gradually correct the hooves over a year or so. We concluded that I should temporarily stop riding my mare.

After Clementino was born, I found a veterinarian who had a passion for horses, communicated well with people, and was open-minded about various treatments. He found that Porcelana could hardly walk because of pulled suspensory ligaments in both front legs. He gave her collagen injections and directed me to use medicine boots on her front legs.

Despite these treatments, Porcelana didn't improve. At the next examination, my veterinarian said it was critical to trim more toe off her long hooves to relieve the pressure on her ligaments, which the hoof trimmer then did to my vet's specifications. My mare's overall appearance still didn't look good to us, so it was suggested that I schedule an appointment with an equine body worker.